Stairway to Heaven

For other uses of "Stairway to Heaven", see Stairway to Heaven (disambiguation).

"Stairway to Heaven"
Song

"Stairway to Heaven" is a song by the English rock group Led Zeppelin, composed by guitarist Jimmy Page and vocalist Robert Plant, and recorded on their fourth studio album, (Led Zeppelin IV). It is cited as the most played song on FM radio stations in the United States, despite never being released as a single there.

History

The music was written by Jimmy Page "over a long period, the first part coming at Bron-Yr-Aur one night". The recording of "Stairway to Heaven" started in December 1970 at the Basing Street Studios (Island Studios, London). The song was completed by the addition of lyrics by Robert Plant during the sessions for Led Zeppelin IV at Headley Grange, Hampshire, in 1971.

After the inaugural public performance at Belfast's Ulster Hall on March 5, 1971, (coincidentally Led Zeppelin's first appearance in Northern Ireland) "Stairway" was performed at almost every Led Zeppelin concert up until 1980. Following Bonham's death in that year, the song was played by the surviving members of Led Zeppelin at the Live Aid concert in 1985, at the Atlantic Records 40th anniversary party in 1988, and by Jimmy Page as an instrumental version on his solo tours. Teasingly, the first few bars were played alone during Page and Plant tours, only to be morphed into other songs. Plant cites the Live Aid performance as the most unusual performance of the song ever, "with two drummers while Duran Duran cried at the side of the stage - there was something quite surreal about that."

"Stairway to Heaven" is the biggest-selling single piece of sheet music clocking up an average of 15,000 copies yearly. It also continues to top radio lists of the greatest rock songs, as well as topping a recent Guitar World poll.

The song's length precluded its release in full form as a single. Despite pressure from Atlantic Records the band would not authorize the editing of the song for single release, making "Stairway to Heaven" one of the most well-known and popular rock songs never to have been released as a single. It did, however, appear as a promotional disc in the United States, on an Australian acoustic EP, and in the 1990s as a 20th anniversary promo book.

In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine put it at #31 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Lyrics

The first attempts at lyrics, written by Led Zeppelin vocalist Robert Plant next to an evening log fire at Headley Grange, were partly spontaneously improvised and Page claimed, "a huge percentage of the lyrics were written there and then". Jimmy Page was strumming the chords and Robert Plant had a pencil and paper. Plant later said that suddenly, "my hand was writing out the words, 'There's a lady is sure [sic], all that glitters is gold, and she's buying a stairway to Heaven'. I just sat there and looked at them and almost leapt out of my seat." Plant's own explanation of the lyrics was that it "was some cynical aside about a woman getting everything she wanted all the time without giving back any thought or consideration. The first line begins with that cynical sweep of the hand ... and it softened up after that."

Music

The song is a multi-movement suite. A quiet introduction featuring acoustic guitar and a recorder (ending at-2:15) gradually moves into to a slow electric middle section (2:16-5:37), before the faster hard rock final section (5:49-end).

Written in the key of A minor and mainly in common time the song opens with an Am-Fmaj7 arpeggiated, hybrid-picked guitar chord progression with a chromatic descending bassline A-G#-G-F#-F. John Paul Jones contributed overdubbed wooden bass recorders in the opening section (he used a Mellotron, and later, a Yamaha CP70B Grand Piano and Yamaha GX1 to synthesize this arrangement in live performances) and a Hohner Electra-Piano electric piano in the middle section. The sections build with more guitar layers, each complementary to the intro with the drums entering at 4:18. The bridge to the solo consists of shifting time signatures (3/4 to 4/4 to 5/4 to 4/4 to 7/8) before dropping back into common time for the solo and ending. The extended Jimmy Page guitar solo in the song's final section was played for the recording on a 1958 Fender Telecaster (an instrument he used extensively with the Yardbirds) plugged into a Supro amplifier although in a Guitar World interview Page also claims, "It could have been a Marshall, but I can't remember". Three different solos were recorded with Page agonizing about deciding which to keep. The other guitar parts were played using a Harmony acoustic guitar and Fender Electric XII (12-string); both can be heard on the left and right recording channels respectively. For live versions, Page switched to using a Heritage Cherry Gibson EDS-1275 6/12 Doubleneck guitar. The final progression is a i-VII-VI (natural minor) progression (Am G F), a mainstay of rock music.

Page always kept a cassette recorder around and "Stairway" came together - from bits of taped ideas.

The opening chord progression and verse in "Stairway to Heaven" are nearly identical to the 1968 instrumental "Taurus" by the group Spirit. In the liner notes to the reissue of Spirit's 1968 eponymous debut, songwriter Randy California mentions the fact that Jimmy Page took special interest in "Taurus". Prior to his death in 1997, Randy California was often asked about it in interviews, to which he typically responded that he did not consider the "Stairway" intro to be a rip-off, but simply a "reworking" of his song.

Led Zeppelin was the opening act for Spirit's 1968 tour. While nobody in Led Zeppelin has ever cited influence from the track, the band was known to incorporate bits of Spirit song Fresh Garbage into their early concert medleys, and Jimmy Page has said that his use of a theremin was inspired by seeing Randy California use one.

http://www.michaelklassen.com/understanding-stairway-to-heaven/#16

<a name="stairway"></a>

Stairway to Heaven

R. Plant & J. Page
© 1971 Superhype Music Inc.

There's a <a href="#1">lady</a>¹ who's sure all that
glitters is <a href="#2">gold</a>².

And she's buying a stairway
to <a href="#3">heaven</a>³.

And when she gets there she knows
if the stores are closed.

With a <a href="#4">word</a>⁴ she can get
what she came for.

There's a sign on the wall
but she wants to be sure.

Cause you know sometimes
words have <a href="#5">two meanings</a>⁵.

In a tree by the brook
there's a songbird

who sings <a href="#6">sometimes</a>⁶.

All of our thoughts are misgiven.

There's a feeling I get when
I look to the west.

And my spirit is crying for leaving.

In my thoughts I have seen
rings of smoke

through the <a href="#7">trees</a>⁷.

And the voices of those who
stand looking.

And it's whispered that soon
if we all call the tune.

Then the piper will lead us to reason.

And a new day will dawn
for those who <a href="#8">stand long</a>⁸.

And the forests will echo
with laughter.

And it makes me <a href="#9">wonder</a>⁹.

If there's a bustle in your hedgerow
don't be alarmed <a href="#10">now</a>¹⁰.

It's just a spring clean for
the May-Queen.

Yes there are two paths
you can go by.

But in the long run.

There's still time to change
the road you're <a href="#11">on</a>¹¹.

Your head is humming and
it won't go- in case you don't <a href="#12">know</a>¹².

The piper's calling you to <a href="#13">join him</a>¹³.

Dear lady can you hear
the wind blow.

And did you know

your stairway lies on the
whispering <a href="#14">wind</a>¹⁴.

And as we wind on down the road.

Our shadows taller than our soul.

There walks a lady we all know.

Who shines white light
and wants to show.

How everything still turns <a href="#15">gold</a>¹⁵.

And if you listen very hard

the tune will come to you at last.

When all are one and <a href="#16">one is all</a>¹⁶.

To be a <a href="#17">rock</a>¹⁷ and not to roll.

And she's <a href="#18">buying</a>¹⁸ a stairway
to heaven.

The Lyrics Interpreted

By Michael Klassen

<a name="1">1.</a> Erma Rees-Gwynn, a Welsh divorcee intent on starting her own carpenter contracting business. She was recommended (some say as a joke) by the castle's previous owner, actor Richard Harris, who fled to the Bahamas to avoid the taxman.

<a name="2">2.</a> This is a bit of Plant's irony. In other words if it didn't glitter, it probably wasn't worth much. Erma and her assistants reportedly broke and scratched a lot of valuables carrying lumber through the residence.

<a name="3">3.</a> This means "building" a stairway to heaven, or, more likely, buying the materials for the stairway. Erma was contracted to build a deck in back of Page's castle, three stories high. The plans were for a 2nd floor landing, and steps leading up from the back vegetable patch. Plant once described Lelawcge-an-bryn as "heaven." The staircase when completed would be a stairway to view heaven if you climbed up it, or going down, a stairway to carrots and peas.

<a name="4">4.</a>"Foreclosure." The small Welsh town in the district had only one hardware store in the area, and the owner was on a picnic with his family. Erma complained to Jimmy about not being able to get screw nails. So Jimmy called a couple of local aldermen he had in his back pocket, so they could get the damn store open. The store owner soon received the politicians' threats, and cut short his picnic.

<a name="5">5.</a> In order the secure the landing at the second floor, Erma's crew had to enter Jimmy's so-called "Guitar Room." The sign on the wall said "Keep the Fuck Out - Everyone!" These words don't have two meanings, do they? Well, Erma let herself in anyway. In fact, only two double-necked Gibsons could be found in the room, out of Page's reputed collection of 75 guitars. No, this was his Occult Room, full of red satin furnishings and things with horns on them.

<a name="6">6.</a> Reportedly Jimmy was out on his property, singing in his favorite tree, when he saw Erma's helper hanging out the Guitar Room's window. His berserk ranting ("misgiven thoughts") could be heard in the next county.

<a name="7">7.</a> West of Page's property, beyond a neighbour's forested grove, there was a coal-burning power plant. Apparently the tons of sulphur-rich deposits pouring from its stacks disheartened Plant. One day Percy got pretty inebriated, and schemed that they should all protest until the plant shut down. Why not get all the girls, the other lads, and large-fisted manager Peter Grant out blocking their gate? "Great idea," one of the girls responded, "but how are we going to keep the stereo going, or even have hot baths without power?" This comment silenced Plant's protest.

<a name="8">8.</a> Jonesy was the true all round musician of the group. Before Led Zeppelin the bassist/keyboardist extraordinaire wrote and arranged some of Lulu's best work, including "To Sir With Love." Whilst up at Page's castle he tried to form a little choir he wished to call the Zeppettes. Singing careers could've meant a "new day" for the girls, but none could carry a tune. The neighbours watched them rehearse in vain, hence the laughter echoing in the forest.

<a name="9">9.</a> It's likely Plant spend as much time wondering about things as it took for him to write this line.

<a name="10">10.</a> It's said a lot of clothes were found in strange places after their infamous Victorian dress-up parties.

<a name="11">11.</a> The "May-Queen" was Maytag's laundromat-sized washer/dryer combo ordered in to handle hotel-sized loads of laundry being done at Page's castle. Jimmy was promised a money-back warranty on the set if he wasn't satisfied. The "two paths" were whether to keep them or return. The warranty gave him time to change the road he was on, you see.

<a name="12">12.</a> This was one of the worst hangovers Plant had ever felt.

<a name="13">13.</a> Jonesy was going back to London and asked Plant to come along.

<a name="14">14.</a> Actually, your stairway, and the whole damned sundeck laid on the ground. A spring torrent ripped through Great Britain that year, and destroyed Erma's shoddy work.

<a name="15">15.</a> Jonesy and Plant hit the road in John Paul's Stutz Bearcat. By coincidence, they came across Erma waving a flashlight, trying to hitch out of Lelawcge-an-bryn County. After the sundeck fiasco she gave up on carpentry, and was leaving for a cousin's residence in King's Cross. "Everything still turns to gold," she promised, boasting ten thousand pounds profit on the Page job alone.

<a name="16">16.</a> A sarcastic bit of advice from Percy to the Zeppettes: just keep practicing, girls.

<a name="17">17.</a> Plant decided to be a rock, if not a lump of clay, and stay home with his wife and family until the next tour.

<a name="18">18.</a> Last heard from, Erma was in the Bahamas. "And she's buying a ticket to Nassau."

Other versions

Covers

A few attempts at a straightforward cover have been made over the years, notably by glam metal band Great White. The supergroup Far Corporation was the first act to chart with a single release of the song, barely making the charts in the U.S., while becoming a top-10 hit in the UK in October 1985. Tiny Tim has a recorded version of the song, on his album Girl, where he is accompanied by the band Brave Combo, and it is played very jazzy and lounge, which is one of three times the song will be played as a lounge song. Frank Zappa recorded an original version of the song during his 1988 world tour, and it appeared on the 1991 live album The Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life. In 1993, the band Leningrad Cowboys collaborated with the Red Army Choir to perform a cover of the song. Jewish rock musician Dan Torres recorded an acoustic version on Dan Torres's Greatest Hits clocking in at 8:21, featuring louder, longer verses.

Singer Dolly Parton recorded a country-bluegrass version on her 2002 album Halos & Horns. Parton also used the intro chord progression from the song in her own 1976 single "We Used To," which reached the Top 10 on the Billboard country charts. Pop singer Pat Boone chose it to close out his 1997 album of heavy metal covers In a Metal Mood: No More Mr. Nice Guy. A cover by Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, which includes only the first three verses of the song, begins with a straightforward rendition, and then kicks into an energetic pop 'punk' style. This cover got them booed off stage while performing during a 2006 Pittsburgh Pirates game. Native American singer Jana recorded a electronic cover of Stairway to Heaven which won the Native American Music Award (Nammy) for Best Song in 2002.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra, under the direction of Peter Scholes, recorded an instrumental version of the song on the album Kashmir: The Symphonic Led Zeppelin. Jazz guitarist Stanley Jordan recorded an instrumental cover of Stairway to Heaven where he simultaneously played two independent parts on one guitar with no overdubs. Rodrigo y Gabriela recently recorded an instrumental cover of Stairway to Heaven for their self-titled album in 2006. An instrumental version has also appeared on the bluegrass album "Pickin' on Zeppelin: A Tribute". The final shot of Captain Jack Sparrow in the film Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End is accompanied by a brief orchestral excerpt of Stairway to Heaven.

File:The-Money-or-the-Gun.jpg

"The Money or the Gun"
"Stairways to Heaven" video tape
(25 versions of the song includes the well-known version by Rolf Harris)

Many other covers are ironic or intentionally humorous, notably Dread Zeppelin's reggae/Elvis-inspired version, Pat Boone's and Richard Cheese's lounge takes, and Rolf Harris's didgeridoo-and-wobble board interpretation (which reached number 7 in the UK charts in 1993). Rolf Harris's version was one of 25 different versions of the song that were performed live by guest stars on the early 1990s Australian chat show The Money or the Gun - each being a unique version of the song in the usually idiosyncratic style of performance of each guest star, following which the best 25 performances of the song were released on video tape for posterity (Rolf Harris' version would appear to be the only version that people are aware of). A compilation of these versions, titled Stairways to Heaven, was put out on the Atlantic label, featuring versions of the song by The Australian Doors Show, The Beatnix, John Paul Young, Kate Ceberano, Leonard Teale, Sandra Hahn and Michael Turkic (Grand Opera), The Ministry of Fun, Neil Pepper, Pardon Me Boys, Robyne Dunn, The Rock Lobsters, Rolf Harris, Vegimite Reggae and others.

Harris is said to have received death threats from fans of the song for his version of this iconic rock anthem. The Foo Fighters's lead singer Dave Grohl also performed a humorous version of the song on The Late Late Show With Craig Kilborn, where he pretended to forget the lyrics (Grohl is an avid Led Zeppelin fan and has numerous tattoos representing the band across his body) and proceeded to improvise the electric guitar solo vocally.

A novelty song featuring the music and arrangement of the song combined with the lyrics to the "Theme from Gilligan's Island" (which has a similar chord progression) was recorded by the San Francisco band Little Roger and the Goosebumps and often featured on the Dr. Demento radio program. Singer Robert Plant has described this as his favorite cover "version" of the song.

Parodies

A parody of "Stairway to Heaven" was recorded by the ApologetiX, a Christian parody band. The parody was titled "Narrow Way to Heaven" and depicted their interpretation of the Christian path to Heaven.

Also popular on Dr. Demento's program was "7-Eleven", a parody based on the title of the store, by Led Slurpee, a one-time-only pseudonym of the duo Icemark composed of Rob "Iceman" Izenberg and former KZZP disk jockey Mark Jonathan Davis.

Detournements

Composer Thomas Dimuzio reversed the original recording and digitally spliced it into quarter notes, then reassembled it in forward order to retain the original melody. According to Dimuzio, the resulting file contains exactly 666 regions. [1]

Live performances

During live performances of their song Tribute, Tenacious D often plays the song with bits and pieces of guitar riffs and chord progressions from Stairway to Heaven. Also, they often sing the last few words of the song similarly to how the end of Stairway to Heaven is sung. On their HBO series version of Tribute, large chunks of the song use chord progressions and vocals reminiscent of Stairway to Heaven.

Backmasking Controversy

Critics of rock and roll songs (and of Led Zeppelin in particular) have alleged that a backmasked message is recorded into "Stairway to Heaven." The message, which allegedly occurs during the middle section of the song ("If there's a bustle in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed now..."), is purported to contain Satanic references:

Oh here's to my sweet Satan.
The one whose little path would make me sad, whose power is Satan.
He will give those with him 666.
There was a little toolshed where he made us suffer, sad Satan.

— Most popular version of the lyrics to Stairway to Heaven played backwards

The controversy originated from a prominent Baptist, who, in 1982, preached on the radio that "Stairway to Heaven" contained subliminal backward messages. This theory was later primarily advanced by Michael Mills, Jacob Aranza, and Jeff Godwin, who offered detailed analyses of the hidden meanings of both the "backwards" and actual lyrics. In 1982, the Consumer Protection and Toxic Materials Committee of the California State Assembly held a hearing on backmasking in popular music, during which "Stairway to Heaven" was played backwards. William Yarroll, a self-identified neuroscientist, claimed that "Stairway to Heaven," when played backward, contains a similar message: "I sing because I live with Satan. The Lord turns me off — there's no escaping it. Here's to my sweet Satan, whose power is Satan. He will give you 666. I live for Satan. Other versions of the alleged message include "Here's to my sweet Satan, no other made a path. For it makes me sad. Whose power is Satan? Oh, my number, 666", and "Oh, here's to my sweet Satan. The One whose little path has made me sad. Whose power is Satan? Oh, my number, 666".

Led Zeppelin has for the most part ignored such claims; for years the only comment came from Swan Song Records which issued the statement: "Our turntables only play in one direction—forwards". Zeppelin producer Eddie Kramer confirmed this, calling the allegations "totally and utterly ridiculous. Why would they want to spend so much studio time doing something so dumb?" Robert Plant expressed frustration with the accusations in an interview: "To me it's very sad, because 'Stairway to Heaven' was written with every best intention, and as far as reversing tapes and putting messages on the end, that's not my idea of making music."

An informal experiment by scientist Simon Singh suggested that listeners only hear the message after prompting.

See also

• List of songs in English labeled the best ever

References

• Led Zeppelin: Dazed and Confused: The Stories Behind Every Song, by Chris Welch, ISBN 1-56025-818-7
• The Complete Guide to the Music of Led Zeppelin, by Dave Lewis, ISBN 0-7119-3528-9

External links

• Stairway to Heaven songfacts, tabs, videos and audio, at the Stairway to Heaven website.
• The Straight Dope: What's the story behind Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven?"
• NPR Fresh Air audio interview with Robert Plant, who comments on various covers of the song, the lyrics and writing it.
• 101 cover versions of “Stairway to Heaven”
• Sold on Song, "Stairway to Heaven" at BBC Radio 2
• [2] Live performance at Google Video
• Jimmy Page Audio Interview about the Gibson guitar used in Stairway to Heaven